Internally, the group initially had a structure based on a political cabinet, led by a "Co-ordinator of Committees", supported by a team of convenors, each with responsibility for a different policy area.[2] Soon, Boothby was appointed Secretary, MacDiarmid as President and Ian Taylor as Vice-President, in a more traditional approach,[3] while later still, some leading members of the organisation were given the title "Scottish Knight Templar".[6]

The club published a journal named Catalyst, edited by Ronald MacDonald Douglas,[7] which covered both cultural and political matters, with poetry by MacDiarmid, and a clear declaration that it would not intervene in elections, which it intended to leave to the SNP.[2] One of the club's first acts was to published a proposed constitution for an independent Scotland, based on that developed by the Scottish National Congress.[1] Another early campaign was for the SNP's parliamentary candidates to commit to a policy of abstentionism in the Westminster parliament, and instead to convene their own body in Edinburgh. It also argued that such a body would have the right to arm itself in defence against England, and this advocacy of paramilitary action led the SNP to expel its members in 1968,[1] amid claims that the group incorporated fascist ideology.[8] Boothby in particular was keen on this approach, having previous called for a "Scottish Liberation Army",[2] and he secretly formed such a group, the "Army of the Provisional Government", which conducted some bombings and a robbery.[1] In 1975, he was convicted of conspiracy and left the group.[3]

During the 1970s, the club strongly suggested that the Stone of Scone which had been returned to London following its theft in the 1950s was not the original, and they gave a stone to St Columba's Church in Dundee which they claimed was genuine. This was not widely believed, and the stone was later transferred to Dull, Perthshire and then in 1989 given to an individual who self-identified as a "Scottish Knight Templar".[6]

1.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses

2.
Fascism
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Fascism /ˈfæʃɪzəm/ is a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe. The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I, opposed to liberalism, Marxism, and anarchism, fascism is usually placed on the far-right within the traditional left–right spectrum. Fascists saw World War I as a revolution that brought changes to the nature of war, society, the state. The advent of war and the total mass mobilization of society had broken down the distinction between civilians and combatants. A military citizenship arose in which all citizens were involved with the military in some manner during the war, Fascism rejects assertions that violence is automatically negative in nature, and views political violence, war, and imperialism as means that can achieve national rejuvenation. Fascists advocate a mixed economy, with the goal of achieving autarky through protectionist and interventionist economic policies. Since the end of World War II in 1945, few parties have openly described themselves as fascist, the descriptions neo-fascist or post-fascist are sometimes applied more formally to describe parties of the far right with ideologies similar to, or rooted in, 20th century fascist movements. The Italian term fascismo is derived from fascio meaning a bundle of rods and this was the name given to political organizations in Italy known as fasci, groups similar to guilds or syndicates. According to Mussolinis own account, the Fascist Revolutionary Party was founded in Italy in 1915, in 1919, Mussolini founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in Milan, which became the Partito Nazionale Fascista two years later. The symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity, a rod is easily broken. Similar symbols were developed by different fascist movements, for example, historians, political scientists, and other scholars have long debated the exact nature of fascism. Each interpretation of fascism is distinct, leaving many definitions too wide or narrow, according to many scholars, fascism—especially once in power—has historically attacked communism, conservatism and parliamentary liberalism, attracting support primarily from the far right. Roger Griffin describes fascism as a genus of political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a form of populist ultranationalism. Griffin describes the ideology as having three components, the rebirth myth, populist ultra-nationalism and the myth of decadence. Fascism is a revolutionary, trans-class form of anti-liberal, and in the last analysis. Fascist Philosophies vary by application, but remain distinct by one theoretic commonality, all traditionally fall into the far-right sector of any political spectrum, catalyzed by afflicted class identities over conventional social inequities. John Lukacs, Hungarian-American historian and Holocaust survivor, argues there is no such thing as generic fascism. He claims that National Socialism and Communism are essentially manifestations of populism, Fascism was influenced by both left and right, conservative and anti-conservative, national and supranational, rational and anti-rational

3.
Dundee
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Dundee, officially the City of Dundee, is Scotlands fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2015 was 148,210 which gave Dundee a population density of 2, 477/km2 or 6, 420/sq mi and it lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea. Under the name of Dundee City, it one of the 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Historically part of Angus, the city developed into a burgh in the late 12th century, rapid expansion was brought on by the Industrial Revolution, particularly in the 19th century when Dundee was the centre of the global jute industry. This, along with its major industries gave Dundee its epithet as the city of jute, jam. Biomedical and technological industries have arrived since the 1980s, and the city now accounts for 10% of the United Kingdoms digital-entertainment industry, Dundee has two universities — the University of Dundee and the Abertay University. In 2014 Dundee was recognised by the United Nations as the UKs first UNESCO City of Design for its contributions to fields including medical research, comics. A unique feature of Dundee is that its two football clubs Dundee United and Dundee F. C. have stadiums all but adjacent to each other. With the decline of industry, the city has adopted a plan to regenerate. The name Dundee is made up of two parts, the common Celtic place-name element dun, meaning fort, and a part that may derive from a Celtic element, cognate with the Gaelic dè. The situation of the town and its promotion by Earl David as a trading centre led to a period of prosperity, the earldom was passed down to Davids descendants, amongst whom was John Balliol. The town became a Royal Burgh on Johns coronation as king in 1292, the town and its castle were occupied by English forces for several years during the First War of Independence and recaptured by Robert the Bruce in early 1312. The original Burghal charters were lost during the occupation and subsequently renewed by Bruce in 1327, the burgh suffered considerably during the conflict known as the Rough Wooing of 1543 to 1550, and was occupied by the English forces of Andrew Dudley from 1547. In 1548, unable to defend the town against an advancing Scottish force, in 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Dundee was again besieged, this time by the Royalist Marquess of Montrose. The town was destroyed by Parliamentarian forces led by George Monck in 1651. The town played a role in the establishment of the Jacobite cause when John Graham of Claverhouse. The town was held by the Jacobites in the 1715–16 rising, many in Scotland, including many in Dundee, regarded him as the rightful king. The economy of mediaeval Dundee centred on the export of raw wool, expansion of the whaling industry was triggered by the second Bounty Act, introduced in 1750 to increase Britains maritime and naval skill base

4.
Edinburgh
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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas. Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forths southern shore, it is Scotlands second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh,492,680 for the authority area. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and it is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. Historically part of Midlothian, the city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe. The citys historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdoms second most popular tourist destination after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, Edinburghs Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin, the poem names Din Eidyn as a hill fort in the territory of the Gododdin. The Celtic element din was dropped and replaced by the Old English burh, the first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is a royal charter, c. 1124–1127, by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline. In modern Gaelic, the city is called Dùn Èideann, the earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond, where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have found on Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat, Craiglockhart Hill. When the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, at some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its location has not been identified, it likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria and it thenceforth remained under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, in 1638, King Charles Is attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 17th century, Edinburghs boundaries were defined by the citys defensive town walls

5.
Declaration of Arbroath
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The Declaration of Arbroath is a declaration of Scottish independence, made in 1320. The others were a letter from the King of Scots, Robert I, in fact it stated that the nobility would choose someone else to be king if Bruce proved to be unfit in maintaining Scotlands independence. Some have interpreted this last point as an expression of popular sovereignty – that government is contractual. However the overwhelming majority of academics challenge this vision, scholars point out that definitions change with time. The meaning ascribed to words similar to nation during the ancient and it has also been argued that the Declaration was not a statement of popular sovereignty but a statement of royal propaganda supporting Bruces faction. A justification had to be given for the rejection of King John Balliol in whose name William Wallace, the reason given in the Declaration is that Bruce was able to defend Scotland from English aggression whereas, by implication, King John could not. Whatever the true motive, the idea of a contract between King and people was advanced to the Pope as a justification for Bruces coronation whilst John de Balliol still lived in Papal custody. There are 39 names at the start of the document, all of whom may have had their seals appended, probably over the space of weeks and months. It is thought likely that at least 11 more seals than the original 39 might have been appended. )The Declaration was then taken to the court at Avignon by Bishop Kininmund, Sir Adam Gordon. The Pope heeded the arguments contained in the Declaration, influenced by the offer of support from the Scots for his long-desired crusade if they no longer had to fear English invasion. He exhorted Edward II in a letter to peace with the Scots. The original copy of the Declaration that was sent to Avignon is lost, a copy of the Declaration survives among Scotlands state papers, held by the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh. One passage in particular, strongly suggesting Sallust as the source, is often quoted from the Fergusson translation. The declaration itself is written in Latin, it uses the Latin versions of peoples titles and this list generally uses the titles of peoples Wikipedia biographies. However, although this influence is accepted by historians, it is disputed by others. Even advocates of the link concede that it is speculative and not based on any verifiable sources, in 2016 the Declaration of Arbroath was placed on UNESCOs Memory of the World register. Declaration of independence Claim of Right 1989 Barons Letter of 1301, refutation of Papal claim to Scottish suzerainty by English barons Barrow, G. W. S. Robert the Bruce, the politics of nationalism and ethnicity. State of the Union, Unionism and the Alternatives in the United Kingdom Since 1707, Robert the Bruce, King of Scots

6.
Hugh MacDiarmid
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Christopher Murray Grieve, known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid, was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is best known for his works written in synthetic Scots, or Lallans, the son of a postman, MacDiarmid was born in the Scottish border town of Langholm, Dumfriesshire. He was educated at Langholm Academy before becoming a teacher for a time at Broughton Higher Grade School in Edinburgh. He served in Salonica, Greece and France before developing cerebral malaria, MacDiarmids time in the army was influential in his political and artistic development. After the war he continued to work as a journalist, living in Montrose where he became editor and reporter of the Montrose Review as well as a justice of the peace and a member of the county council. In 1923 his first book, Annals of the Five Senses, was published at his own expense, followed by Sangschaw in 1925 and Penny Wheep, a Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle, is generally regarded as MacDiarmids most famous and influential work. He died at his cottage Brownsbank, near Biggar, in 1978 at the age of 86, MacDiarmid was during his life a supporter of both communism and fascism and Scottish nationalism, views that often put him at odds with his contemporaries. He openly supported English Fascism - Either you must take Britain as your political and economic unit or you must have English fascism and Scottish fascism. He was a member of the National Party of Scotland and stood as a candidate for the Scottish National Party in 1945 and 1950. His father was a postman, his family lived above the town library, Grieve attended Langholm Academy and, from 1908, Broughton Junior Student Centre in Edinburgh, where he studied under George Ogilvie who introduced him to the magazine The New Age. He left the school on 27 January 1911, following the theft of books and postage stamps, his father died eight days later. Following Grieves departure from Broughton, Ogilvie arranged for Grieve to be employed as a journalist with the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch. Grieve was to lose this job later in 1911, but on 20 July of that year he had his first article and it was here that Grieve first encountered the work of John Maclean, Neil Malcolm Maclean, and James Maxton. In July 1915 Grieve left the town of Forfar in eastern Scotland and he went on to serve in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Salonica, Greece and France during the First World War. After the war, he married and returned to journalism, MacDiarmids first book, Annals of the Five Senses, was a mixture of prose and poetry written in English, and was published in 1923 while MacDiarmid was living in Montrose. At about this time MacDiarmid turned to Scots for a series of books, culminating in what is probably his best known work and this poem is widely regarded as one of the most important long poems in 20th-century Scottish literature. After that, he published books containing poems in both English and Scots. From 1929 to 1930 MacDiarmid lived in London, and worked for Compton Mackenzies magazine, Vox

7.
Stone of Scone
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Historically, the artefact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland. It is also known as Jacobs Pillow Stone and the Tanist Stone and its size is about 26 inches by 16.75 inches by 10.5 inches and its weight is approximately 336 pounds. A roughly incised cross is on one surface, and a ring at each end aids with transport. Other traditions contend the Lia Fáil remains at Tara, legends place the origins of the Stone in Biblical times and consider the Stone to be the Stone of Jacob, taken by Jacob while in Haran. Geologists proved that the stone taken by Edward I of England to Westminster is a lower Old Red Sandstone and this stone must have lain here during the long series of ages since Macbeths reign. Beside it were found two round tablets, of a composition resembling bronze. On one of two lines are engraved, which a gentleman has thus deciphered. — The sconce of kingdom come. These plates exhibit the figures of targets for the arms, from time immemorial it has been believed among us here, that unseen hands brought Jacobs pillow from Bethel and dropped it on the site where the palace of Scoon now stands. This curious stone has been shipped for London for the inspection of the scientific amateur, Edward I sought to claim his status as the Lord Paramount of Scotland, with the right to oversee its King. Some doubt exists over the stone captured by Edward I, some proponents of the theory claim that historic descriptions of the stone do not match the present stone. The stone remained in England for another six centuries, even after James VI of Scotland assumed the English throne as James I of England. For the next century, the Stuart kings and queens of Scotland once again sat on the stone but at their coronation as kings, on Christmas Day 1950, a group of four Scottish students removed the stone from Westminster Abbey for return to Scotland. During the removal process, the broke into two pieces. After burying the greater part of the Stone in a Kent field, although English, Josselyn, who was then a student at the University of Glasgow, was a Scottish Nationalist. Edward I was Josselyns 21st great-grandfather, the smaller piece was similarly brought north at a later time. The entire stone was passed to a senior Glasgow politician, who arranged for it to be repaired by Glasgow stonemason Robert Gray. A major search for the stone was ordered by the British Government, the custodians left the stone on the altar of Arbroath Abbey on 11 April 1951, in the safekeeping of the Church of Scotland. Once the London police were informed of its whereabouts, the stone was returned to Westminster four months after it was removed, afterwards, rumours circulated that copies had been made of the stone, and that the returned stone was not the original

8.
Communist Party of Great Britain
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The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991, the Communist Party of Great Britain was founded in 1920 after the Third International decided that greater attempts should be made to establish communist parties across the world. Several branches and many members of the Independent Labour Party also affiliated. As a member of the British Socialist Party, the Member of Parliament Cecil LEstrange Malone joined the CPGB, in January 1921, the CPGB was refounded after the majorities of Sylvia Pankhursts group the Communist Party, and the Scottish Communist Labour Party agreed to unity. During the negotiations leading to the initiation of the party a number of issues were hotly contested, among the most contentious were the questions of parliamentarism and the attitude of the Communist Party to the Labour Party. Parliamentarism referred to a strategy of contesting elections and working through existing parliaments and it was a strategy associated with the parties of the Second International and it was partly for this reason that it was opposed by those who wanted to break with Social Democracy. Similarly, affiliation to the Labour Party was opposed on the grounds that communists should not work with reformist Social Democratic parties and these Left Communist positions enjoyed considerable support, being supported by Sylvia Pankhurst and Willie Gallacher among others. However, the Russian Communist Party took the opposing view, initially, therefore, the CPGB attempted to work within the Labour Party, which at this time operated mainly as a federation of left-wing bodies, only having allowed individual membership since 1918. However, despite the support of James Maxton, the Independent Labour Party leader, even while pursuing affiliation and seeking to influence Labour Party members, however, the CPGB promoted candidates of its own at parliamentary elections. Following the refusal of their affiliation, the CPGB encouraged its members to join the Labour Party individually, several Communists thus became Labour Party candidates, and in the 1922 general election, Shapurji Saklatvala and Walton Newbold were both elected. The affair of the forged Zinoviev Letter occurred in late October 1924 and it was probably the work of SIS or White Russian counter revolutionaries. Throughout the 1920s and most of the 1930s the CPGB decided to maintain the doctrine that a communist party should consist of revolutionary cadres, the CPGB as the British section of the Communist International was committed to implementing the decisions of the higher body to which it was subordinate. This proved to be a blessing in the General Strike of 1926 immediately prior to which much of the central leadership of the CPGB was imprisoned. Twelve were charged with seditious conspiracy, five were jailed for a year and the others for six months. Another major problem for the party was its policy of abnegating its own role, the result was that membership of the party in mining areas increased greatly through 1926 and 1927. Much of these gains would be lost during the Third Period, indeed, Maerdy in the Rhondda Valley along with Chopwell in Tyne and Wear were two of a number of communities known as Little Moscow for their Communist tendencies. Any kind of alliance with social-fascists was obviously to be prohibited, the Third Period also meant that the CPGB sought to develop revolutionary trade unions in rivalry to the established Trades Union Congress affiliated unions. They met with an almost total lack of success although a handful of red unions were formed, amongst them a miners union in Scotland

9.
Dull, Perth and Kinross
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Dull is a village located in the county of Perth and Kinross in Scotland. Situated in the Highland part of the county, Dull consists of a street of houses on the north side of the valley of the River Tay. The place-name may mean meadow in Gaelic, the parish church, unused since the 1970s, is on the site of an early Christian monastery founded by St Adomnán, Abbot of Iona. Several early Christian cross-slabs dating to the 7th or 8th century have been discovered in, a massive font of rough workmanship, preserved by the church door, is also a probable relic from the early monastic site. The surrounding district was known as the Appin of Dull, the name Appin deriving from Old Irish apdaine, abbacy, compare Appin in Argyll, the abbey lands in that case being those of the major early Christian monastery of Lismore. Four undecorated crosses, of which three survive, one at Dull itself, and two in the old church at Weem, once stood around the monastic precinct, defining an area of sanctuary. During the later Middle Ages, and up to modern times and it is not known when the early Christian monastery ceased to function. Dull is twinned with, Boring, Oregon, USA Bland, New South Wales, Australia Elizabeth Leighton of Aberfeldy, Scotland, proposed the pairing while passing through Boring, Oregon on a cycling holiday. In June 2012, the US town of Boring, Oregon, accepted the proposal of Dull to pair their municipalities, the Boring Community Planning Organization issued commemorative “Boring & Dull, a pair for the ages” T-shirts and mugs, raffling off a trip to Dull, Scotland. The Boring CPO will not be attempting to get the pairing recognised by the US-based Sister Cities International, Dull and Boring celebrations are held annually on August 9 in Oregon with a piper and a barbershop quartet, the Dull celebrations are in October

10.
Oliver Brown (Scottish activist)
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William Oliver Brown was a Scottish nationalist political activist. He contributed to both the English- and French-language editions of the Grand Larousse encyclopédique, and worked both as a courier for the British Council and a broadcaster on the BBC and he was married to the painter and illustrator Margaret Oliver Brown. Brown was a member of the National Party of Scotland in 1929. He stood for the party at the East Renfrewshire by-election,1930 and he stood again in East Renfrewshire at the 1931 general election, increasing his vote to 6,498. In 1934, the National Party merged into the new Scottish National Party and he stood for the new party at the 1935 general election, again in East Renfrewshire. Although he took 6,593 votes, on occasion, it was just under one-eighth of the total. By the late 1930s, Brown had left the SNP and joined the Labour Party and he was a pacifist during World War II. In 1940, he launched the Scots Socialist journal, with Archie Lamont, Douglas Young, George Campbell Hay and Hugh MacDiarmid, acting as its editor until it ceased publication in 1949. Initially, the Scots Socialist was associated with the Scottish Secretariat Study Group, in 1943, he affiliated the party to the SNP, but the relationship remained semi-detached, and the Scottish Socialist Party was soon acting independently once more. It remained small, based around speeches he would give from his soapbox on the corner of Sauchiehall Street and Wellington Street in Glasgow, in 1945, Brown published Scotlandshire, Englands worst governed province. In the introduction, he claimed that he was the best-known Scottish nationalist, following the result, he claimed that I appealed to the intelligent section of the electorate and the result shows that I have received their unanimous support. Brown became President of the Scottish National Congress in 1950, this SNP split being led by Roland Muirhead, however, he disapproved of its submission to the Royal Commission on Scottish Affairs and so resigned in 1954. At the 1959 general election, the SNP selected Brown as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Hamilton, however, with the election impending, he decided not to stand, claiming that it would be a waste of time and money. The SNP instead selected David Rollo to fight the seat, but Brown resigned from the party, in 1965, he applied for readmittance to the SNP, but this was rejected by the partys National Executive. He was enthused by the SNPs victory in the Hamilton by-election,1967 and that year, he founded the 1320 Club with MacDiarmid, Young, Frederick Boothby and Wendy Wood, serving as its first president. However, the club struggled, Boothby secretly founded a private army, Brown wrote a regular column for the Scots Independent until his death. In 1968, a selection of his writings were published as Witdom, in 1983, the Scots Independent launched the Oliver Brown Award in his memory, giving it annually to the public figure judged to have done most to advance Scotlands self-respect

11.
Scottish National Party
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The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social-democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence and its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, is the current First Minister of Scotland. With the advent of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the SNP became the second largest party, serving two terms as the opposition. The SNP came to power in the 2007 Scottish general election, forming a minority government, before going on to win the 2011 election, after which it formed Scotlands first majority government. The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland in terms of membership, reaching over 120,000 members in July 2016, currently the party has 63 MSPs,54 MPs and approximately 400 local councillors. The SNP also currently has 2 MEPs in the European Parliament, the SNP is a member of the European Free Alliance. The party does not have any members of the House of Lords, the SNP was formed in 1934 through the merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party, with Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham as its first president. Young was imprisoned for refusing to be conscripted, the SNP first won a parliamentary seat at the Motherwell by-election in 1945, but Robert McIntyre MP lost the seat at the general election three months later. They next won a seat in 1967, when Winnie Ewing was the winner of a by-election in the previously safe Labour seat of Hamilton. This brought the SNP to national prominence, leading to the establishment of the Kilbrandon Commission, the SNP hit a high point in the October 1974 general election, polling almost a third of all votes in Scotland and returning 11 MPs to Westminster. This success was not surpassed until the 2015 general election, however, the party experienced a large drop in its support at the 1979 General election, followed by a further drop at the 1983 election. In May 2011, the SNP won a majority in the Scottish Parliament with 69 seats. The No vote prevailed in a campaign, prompting the resignation of First Minister Alex Salmond. Forty-five percent of Scottish voters cast their ballots for independence, with the Yes side receiving less support than late polling predicted. The SNP rebounded from the loss in the referendum at the UK general election in May 2015, led by Salmonds successor as first minister. The party went from holding six seats in the House of Commons to 56, all but three of the fifty nine constituencies in the country elected an SNP candidate. BBC News described the result as a Scots landslide. The party gained an additional 1. 1% of the vote from the 2011 election

Plaque on a building near Gladstone Court Museum, Biggar, South Lanarkshire which was opened by MacDiarmid in 1968. The inscription reads "Let the lesson be - to be yersel's and to mak' that worth bein'"